


I'll Come With You

by Tazza1993



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-19 02:42:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9414485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tazza1993/pseuds/Tazza1993
Summary: "I'm going for a jog."But Robert's heard those words before from Aaron.And he can't lose him now.Set the week after the Finn/Kasim fiasco.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Just a short little fic that I wrote when I couldn't sleep.

Aaron and Robert lay side by side in the dark, in their bed. They were both stretched out on their backs, staring at the ceiling. They were lying close enough to feel the heat from each other's bodies but they weren't yet touching. It had been an emotional roller coaster of a week and both were struggling to find the words they wanted to say. Robert wondered whether to stand up and turn the light on, so he could read Aaron's expression. But he quickly decided against it - perhaps it was easier to say things in the dark.

 

"Robert, I'm scared." It was Aaron who spoke first. The words were almost spat out, against his will.

 

Robert reached out in the darkness and felt for Aaron's hand. He curled his fingers around Aaron's, in an attempt to lend him some comfort. "What of?" he asked quietly.

 

"Going to prison. Losing Liv. You and me. Everyone thinking I'm some kind of psycho. Myself." Aaron reeled off his list like he was counting his demons.

 

Robert's chest felt tight as he absorbed Aaron's words. He was grateful for the honesty, relieved that Aaron still trusted him after all the angry words they'd thrown at each other last week. His stomach plummeted as he remembered Aaron's face as he'd slipped his engagement ring off his finger and placed it on the coffee table. In the moment, it had felt like the only thing left to do. Now he knew, he should have fought harder and maybe they wouldn't have ended up in this mess.

 

He didn't know how best to respond to Aaron's words. He was scared too - in fact, he was absolutely terrified. He didn't know if he was strong enough to watch Aaron get sent to prison, sent away from him. But he couldn't burden Aaron with his fear, as well as Aaron's own internal struggles. Robert had always been strong for Aaron and he didn't intend to stop now.

 

"Aaron, everything is going to be okay." Robert tried to sound solid, certain. However, the words sounded inadequate even to his own ears.

 

"Nothing ever turns out okay for me," Aaron sighed.

 

"Hey, that's not true." Robert wriggled closer to Aaron and turned on to his side. He nuzzled his nose into Aaron's neck and moved their still entwined hands on to Aaron's bare chest. "Me and you turned out okay, in the end."

 

Aaron said nothing in answer. Robert tried to give him as much comfort as he could just by his sheer proximity. Sometimes words weren't ever going to be enough.

 

***

 

"I'm going for a jog," Aaron announced, already pulling a hoodie out of the wardrobe.

 

His fiancé's words shock the last vestiges of sleep away from Robert. He suddenly felt wide awake, struggling to sit upright, the duvet falling away and exposing his chest.

 

"No," Robert blurted out. "Hang on a second and we'll grab some breakfast."

 

Robert remembered, all too well, the last time that Aaron had went for a jog feeling frustrated, frightened and upset. It had ended with an ambulance and a leg in a cast. It had been the first time that Robert could have lost Aaron forever. Robert remembered finding him in the woods, cold and delirious and looking close to death. He recalled hearing Aaron mumble "Robert, Robert" as he lay on the hard, cold forest floor. He hadn't been able to protect Aaron then, until the damage was already done, but he could do it now.

 

"I'm not hungry." Aaron brushed him off.

 

A part of Robert wondered if he was panicking needlessly. It wasn't as though Aaron hadn't been for runs since that awful day. He still disappeared into the morning air quite regularly. But never when he was feeling bad about himself. Aaron had learned his lesson about punishing himself in such a risky way. Or had he? Robert wasn't prepared to take the gamble, not with Aaron's life. He'd meant it when he'd said _I've already lost you twice, I can't do it again._

 

"Wait, I'll come with you," he said, throwing the duvet off himself and standing up. "I'll need to borrow something to wear though."

 

Aaron raised an eyebrow and smirked. Robert thought that it was the closest Aaron had come to smiling for days. "You don't jog," he snorted. "You won't be able to keep up."

 

Robert knew that Aaron was right. Robert hated jogging with a fiery passion, he'd sooner take Liv shopping (and that was an ordeal in itself) than give up an hour of his time to torture himself by puffing his way through bleak fields. But he knew that if he stayed in the warmth of the pub and cooked breakfast, Aaron would go out alone.

 

"Watch me." Robert tried to sound confident.

 

Aaron chucked a green zip up jumper at him, calling his bluff.

 

***

 

Robert's breath came out in short gasps and his legs felt heavy. The cold air stung his cheeks and he felt more annoyed with every step that he forced his legs to take. Aaron looked over his shoulder and rolled his eyes, trying not to laugh. Robert wondered briefly how in the world Aaron could enjoy such a sadistic sport. They were on the outskirts of the woods now, the mud from the narrow paths sticking to his trainers.

 

"Just go back, Robert," Aaron suggested, throwing him a lifeline.

 

Robert shook his head, his eyes stubborn. "No," he wheezed.

 

"Robert," Aaron snapped, annoyed at his fiancé for hindering his progress.

 

"Aaron," Robert panted back, deadpan. Or as deadpan as it was possible to be when you were as red as a tomato and squeaking out your words.

 

Aaron stopped running and glared at Robert. Robert glared right back, refusing to give in. For a moment, Robert worried that Aaron might run off into the distance, leaving him trailing in his wake. He'd have absolutely no chance of catching up to Aaron who it turned out was much more expert at this running malarkey than Robert had thought.

 

"Sit down then," Aaron growled, realising that this was a battle that he wasn't going to win. "Before you hurt yourself."

 

Robert lowered himself on to the ground, resting his back against a tree. He concentrated on getting his breath to even out for a few moments. Aaron stood over him, scuffing his trainers across the ground at first. Then, after a few moments passed, the frustration left his face and he joined Robert on the forest floor. It reminded Robert of another conversation they'd had, quite recently, in a relatively similar setting. It had been amidst the trees when Robert had told Aaron about his dad and how he'd felt about Robert's sexuality. Aaron had said 'I love you' to Robert in that forest. It seemed like ages ago but the memory still made Robert feel warm inside.

 

"What's this about, Robert?" he asked.

 

"I didn't want you to come out here, alone." Robert chose his words carefully, knowing that he was treading on delicate ground.

 

"What do you mean?" Aaron stared at Robert in confusion. "I come out here alone all the time."

 

Robert looked at the ground, unable to meet Aaron's eyes. "Not when you're like this though."

 

Aaron's eyes widened as he realised what was on Robert's mind. He moved so that he was kneeling in front of Robert, directly in his eye line. "Robert, I wasn't going to push myself too hard," he said quietly.

 

"That's what you said last time," Robert mumbled.

 

"I didn't have you last time."

 

"You did." Robert said, because it was the truth. Aaron had always had Robert in a way that nobody else ever had. Things had just been messier, more complicated, back then.

 

"Not like I do now," Aaron countered.

 

They sat in companionable silence for several moments. Robert is relieved that they can discuss things like this now, without either of them becoming overly defensive and storming off. The silence is less tense than it was during their conversation the evening before. This silence is filled with understanding, last night's was filled with trepidation. Robert remembered how his calming words had such little effect on Aaron. He realised now that it wasn't what Aaron had needed to hear from him. Aaron needed to hear the truth.

 

"Aaron?" he whispered.

 

"Yeah?"

 

"I'm scared, too," Robert admitted, looking into Aaron's blue eyes as he spoke.

 

Aaron looked taken aback at first but quickly regained his composure. "Of what?" he echoed Robert's words from the night before.

 

It's easier than Robert thought it would be to tell the truth. "Of you going to prison. Of losing you." He said quietly.

 

Aaron leaned forward and pressed his cold lips to Robert's cheek. "I guess that means we're in this together then," he replied.

 

"Always," Robert said as he briefly squeezed Aaron's arm.

 

They smiled at each other, an understanding reached between them. Aaron clambered to his feet, a little unsteadily, and reached out a hand to pull Robert up beside him.

 

"Let's go home," he suggested.

 

"Yes, let's." Robert agreed instantly and a little too enthusiastically.

 

"Shall we jog back?" Aaron couldn't resist teasing. Robert didn't mind a single bit, as long as Aaron kept smiling like that.

 

"What do you think?" he snorted.


End file.
